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LIZ HEATHER

December 7, 2022

Navigating November 2022

by Liz Heather in Best of NYC, Food, Movies, Personal, Recipes, Television


How we intend to spend the remaining winter nights

  • You can find the best tweets of the month over here and here.

  • TIP: If you don’t pay for a Spotify subscription and you hate ads: just close the app every time an ad starts and then reopen the app and the song will start. How did it take me years to learn this?

  • So for the first time in nine years, Milk Bar didn’t have their Thanksgiving croissant. Criticisms have been declared and letters have been MAILED. If you think I’m kidding, you really don’t know me.

  • I rarely go to bars, but I went to Witching Hour in Brooklyn and I just loved the layout and general vibe. Must remember.

  • I returned to Minetta Tavern and it’s not as great as it used to be! You’re very crammed into each table and the food wasn’t really worth the price anymore. So that’s rough to realize.

Poppies should be worn year round

  • I also went to Don Angie for the first time and the lasagna is as good as they hype it up to be - same with their incredibly photogenic salad. Make sure to skip the veal tartare and the dessert, though.

  • I tried the Thanksgiving dumplings from Mimi Cheng’s and they were just all right, which was a little disappointing. Maybe I’m still in mourning for the Milk Bar croissants.

  • The Starbucks seasonal drinks keep making me sick and I keep returning for more. Someone explain?

  • Obsessed with this slip I got from Free People.

  • Made a batch of the insanely good Alison Roman chocolate chip shortbread cookies for the freezer, to make closer to Christmas.

  • So there was a beautiful, summer-y day in early November so I found an outdoor pool and headed to The Rockaway Hotel. Day passes for their heated pool are $30 all season, which is kind of amazing.

The Rockaway Hotel Pool, November 2022

Tanning in November

  • Some links I loved:

    • This great Times piece on all kinds of stuffing.

    • Some good cookie-making tips from Ina.

    • I had no idea Coney Island used to have these grand, gorgeous hotels.

    • How to donate stuff straight from home.

  • I got a drink at Miracle on 9th Street which was very cute and the drinks were great. If I’d known it was all the way over near Avenue C, I might not have gone but I’m glad I did.

Drinks at Miracle on 9th Street, Manhattan

  • Some things I watched:

    • Terrifier: okay I shouldn’t really count this since I saw a total of fifteen minutes before leaving the room. But Nathan continued watching it, so I could hear all the screams and sounds from the bedroom and I still somehow had nightmares?? So no I won’t be watching the sequel.

    • We saw Halloween Ends on November 1st and it has to be the absolute worst Halloween of the entire franchise. Just unreal. It felt like punishment for trying to watch a horror movie past October 31st, so lesson learned.

    • The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror XXXIII: it’s a bit depressing to hear how old Marge’s voice has become (this is an awful thought to voice and I apologize), but the Halloween episode was so good this year (especially the last segment).

    • Falling For Christmas: I am not a Hallmark movie person, but I was bored so I put this on and… I’m still firmly not a Hallmark person. These types of movies aren’t even enjoyably bad, I don’t get it.

    • A Christmas Story: this was never in my favourites of Christmas movies and it’s a very okay movie. Hundreds of better Christmas movies, though.

    • Knives Out: it was completely all right, nothing fantastic. I really hated Daniel Craig’s accent and the whole throwing-up-if-lying detail. Just seemed like a bad first screenplay idea.

    • The Fabelmans: it was good but not as epic as I’d hoped. It was really good at showing the memorable relationships through a child’s eye, especially when a kid starts to see his parents as real people.

    • The Crown (seasons 1-2): Love it, can’t wait to keep going. John Lithgow is wonderful. Loved this line: “I find, in general, people have very little understanding of who they are. One has to turn a blind eye to so much of oneself in order to get through life.”

    • Don’t ask me why but I watched some of the last season of The Big Bang Theory and just UGH. What a terrible show that was. The fact that the writers made Penny pregnant in the series finale even though there were countless episodes beforehand where she confidently said she wasn’t going to have children. JUST UGH. Of course it was written by a man.

  • I’ve already gone a few times, but the Union Square Holiday Market is really great this year.

  • You’re already Christmas shopping so just a gentle reminder: get the gift receipt.

  • The snow is coming and you will slip and possibly fall. Act accordingly.

  • I used to absolutely love Yogi Bear’s All Star Christmas Caper (it came out in 1982) and it absolutely still holds up. Link over here if you have kids and/or love nostalgia.

Some things I’m looking forward to this month: of course I’ll be lighting my bayberry candles on Christmas Eve as well as New Year’s Eve, December is always the most expensive month but it doesn’t have to be, don’t forget to buy your mistletoe, I’ll definitely watch some of these, I’ll absolutely watch The Snowman yet again, I’ll make a family Christmas video again, if you’re in Ontario you kind of have to ice skate on this gorgeous path, and once again I’m begging you not to give lottery tickets as gifts.

If you have any interest in reading what went on in October, come on over here.

TAGS: November, November 2022, Navigating November 2022, Navigating November, Baby Dog, Liz Heather, Spotify, Milk Bar, Witching Hour, Brooklyn, Minetta Tavern, NYC, Don Angie, Mimi Cheng's, Thanksgiving dumplings, Starbucks, Free People, Alison Roman, chocolate chip shortbread cookies, The Rockaway Hotel, pools NYC, stuffing, cooking making tips, Coney Island, donations, Miracle on 9th Street, Terrifier, Halloween Ends, The Simpsons, Treehouse of Horror, Falling For Christmas, Hallmark movie, A Christmas Story, Knives Out, Daniel Craig, The Fabelmans, The Crown, The Big Bang Theory, Union Square Holiday Market, gift receipt, Christmas, snow, slip, fall, Yogi Bear, All Star Christmas Caper, Bob's Burgers Christmas episodes


November 4, 2021

October Occurrences 2021

by Liz Heather in Best of NYC, Events, Family, Food, Halloween, Links, Movies, Personal, Recipes, Reviews, Television


October is complete and I’m exhausted. Every year I try to make the most of October and every year I feel like I accomplish just that. And then November arrives and I feel like I can relax again for a minute before the rush and excitement of December begins. I complain, but I love it and wouldn’t have it any other way. Here’s what went down last month!

  • You can find my favourite tweets of the month over here and here.

  • I visited the new rooftop terrace at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (a branch of the NYPL) and wrote about it.

  • I did three episodes of Nathan’s podcast throughout the month: #1, #2, & #3.

  • Your annual reminder that Christmas starts November 1st, these are the rules.

  • New nails alert!

Smokey grey for autumn

  • I finally made the journey to Salem, Massachusetts and it was everything I’d hoped it would be.

  • I got this great temporary tattoo from Etsy that I kind of really want to get as a real tattoo now. Could this ever happen? Could I change my entire non-tattoo personality overnight? And if there’s a reality in which this could happen, what would I tell people is the reasoning behind it? That I love Halloween? That it’s a reminder to just live? (← Okay that might be the corniest thought on this entire blog but aren’t all reasons behind tattoos corny as hell? Do people even have reasoning behind their tattoos anymore? DID THEY EVER? Do you see why I’m not made for this??)

Temporary ghost tattoo available on Etsy

  • I’ve seen most of the new SNLs this season and here are some thoughts:

    • Owen Wilson ep. - based on the monologue alone, how is this man not considered the most charming celebrity on this planet? He’s so likable, it almost hurts. Love that whole family. (I still dream of Luke Wilson as my third husband or something. He just seems like he might treat me so good?) And the episode wasn’t bad overall but mostly because I think Owen’s just… so nice.

    • Kim K. ep. - I won’t spell out the K word, I just won’t do it. This episode was an alien-level of bad. It blew my mind to find out that a lot of people thought differently and even liked it. Not even mainly because she was terrible (she was), but the writing was like… what the fuck is going on? These people are WRITERS? It made me so mad for a bit. Just agonizingly awful.

    • Rami Malek ep. - entirely forgettable but not especially terrible.

    • Jason Sudeikis ep. - okay, now this makes NO sense after the Kim episode, but this was the funniest episode I’ve seen in maybe years. What is going ON? Sudeikis was, obviously, perfect but of course he was gonna be. Can’t love this sketch more.

    • SO EXCITED for Simu Liu to host next month, seems wild to have someone who knows where Square One is hosting this show.

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  • I tried the new apple cider truffles from Milk Bar and you guessed it: great.

  • Some of the family went on a mini trip to Niagara Falls and it was nice to get away, even for just a night. We were missing a few people though and that never feels right.

Tianna & Baby Dog, Niagara Falls, October 2021

  • I attempted to get passes to Open House New York’s annual weekend and it went horribly. The site crashed immediately upon opening and then everything good was instantly sold out when it came back online. This damn city sometimes, I’m telling you.

  • I tried the pie crust cookies from Janie’s Life Changing Baked Goods on the Upper West Side and they did not disappoint. Honestly just love the bold name choice.

The chocolate pie crust cookie from Janie’s Life Changing Baked Goods, Upper West Side

  • I have watched so many movies this past month, they’re all kind of a blur. No true standouts, but one. Hubie Halloween. Do not watch it. A movie hasn’t made me that irrationally mad in years. Just unwatchable shit. Can that man just go somewhere and sit on all his money and be happy? He needs to be stopped.

  • I finished the series On My Block and it’s really just a sweet little show. Happy it ended the way it did and when it did. Fully recommend (the first two seasons mostly).

  • So I’m in the middle of giving up meat for a month for some health reasons (they’re boring reasons so I’m not going into details) and have you ever heard of meat withdrawal? I hadn’t but it’s real, baby. Thought I had the flu or COVID for awhile (I got tested and it was negative) but all the symptoms aligned with cutting meat. Who knew?

  • So I’m not going to buy the entire Simpsons collection because I’m not wildly irresponsible anymore, but I really want to buy this makeup bag.

  • My 16 year old niece visited New York for the first time and it was such a great trip. Highlights from the trip: we saw the Joker steps in the Bronx, we saw the musical Wicked (which was TOO good), she went to a cat cafe, we listened to jazz in Harlem, we had dessert at Serendipity, we went to Coney Island to walk around and ride the Wonder Wheel, it was such a busy weekend, I’m so glad we were able to do so much. Loved having her here.

Layla in Coney Island, October 2021

  • I made an apple fritter cake for Thanksgiving in Canada that was heavenly. Definitely going to make it again at some point.

  • Links I’m Loving:

    • A Schedule of Upcoming & Announced Broadway Shows

    • An article about Nathan’s show!!

    • How To Back Up Your Computer

  • After reading so many good reviews, we got Mexican takeout from Ruta in Astoria and good god, that salsa. It’s incredible and deep red and I can’t wait to have it again.

  • I’m not a giant pumpkin fan but I made pumpkin pecan scones with a maple glaze that were very good. I tend to prefer a lighter, fluffier scone, but the pumpkin weighed these down a bit to make them a bit more dense. I also had so much leftover pumpkin, so I made some soft pumpkin cookies with salted maple icing that were really, really good. Both recipes can be made vegan if you’re better than the rest of us.

Pumpkin Pecan Scones with Maple Glaze

  • I found a new waxing place in Astoria that is incredible: Rio Wax Studio. Not only is it priced reasonably, but the service is incredible. She gets your ingrown hairs like a fucking scientist with special glasses and a magnifying device, it’s amazing. Never going anywhere else again.

  • I went to see the pumpkin flotilla in Central Park and it was wonderful. (People bring in their carved pumpkins and then the Central Park staff arrange them on these little planks to be floated across the water and lit up.) Yes, it’s an event aimed at children, but I like cute/fun things as much as any child.

The pumpkin flotilla in Central Park, October 2021

  • So I entered the Broadway ticket lottery and somehow won (why doesn’t everyone in NY enter this lottery, like, every day?), so I saw Aladdin on Broadway and look, it was cute. It isn’t for me, though. Off and on throughout the whole production I kept thinking about how the 1992 version is so far superior, but I looked around and the kids in that theatre were wowed. So that’s great. One thing that was incredible? The flying magic carpet scene. That was true beauty. Another highlight of the night was being able to walk around and see the inside of the New Amsterdam theatre. Just an architectural beauty. Every view in that theatre is magnificent.

Inside the New Amsterdam theatre in NYC, October 2021

  • It’s finally soup season, so you can find me most days at Il Bambino in Astoria. Every soup they’ve ever done has been spectacular.

Cream of spinach soup at Il Bambino in Astoria, Queens

  • I’d always heard good things about the Halloween decorations on the brownstones in the Upper West Side, so I spent the day wandering around up there and had such a nice walk searching for them. Here were the best streets should you want to see for yourself next year.

    • 87th Street (between Columbus & Amsterdam)

    • 95th Street (between Columbus & Central Park West)

    • 94th Street (between Central Park West & Columbus)

    • West 88th Street (between Central Park West & Columbus)

    • West 69th Street (between Broadway and Central Park West)

  • For Halloween, Baby Dog dressed as Anne of Green Gables and Nathan & I were Bella & Mortimer Goth from The Sims.

Baby Dog as Anne of Green Gables, Halloween 2021

Some things I’m looking forward to this month: I have to get my hands on Dave Grohl’s new book, it’s Thanksgiving croissant time (the best time of the year), the casual outpost of L’Artusi just opened (B’Artusi) so I’ll have to head over there soon, the new holiday stamps just came out and I can’t get to the post office fast enough, I got my ticket for the Dior exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum which should be great, I may or may be headed to another old mansion upstate for a holiday tour of the grounds, and I’m definitely going to write about recent visits to the fashion exhibit at the Met and about visiting The Octagon House upstate, too. Oh and if you care, don’t forget that the Sephora sale starts on November 5th if you’re doing any Christmas shopping.

If you have any interest in reading what went on in September, come on over here.

TAGS: October Occurences, October Occurrences 2021, best of October, Liz Heather, monthly post, monthly roundup, best tweets, rooftop terrace NYC, Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library, NYPL, podcasts, Positive Anger, Positive Anger podcast, Nathan Macintosh, funny, Christmas starts November, new nails, smokey grey nails, Salem MA, Salem Massachusetts, Salem, Etsy, temporary tattoo ghost, ghost tattoo, best ghost tattoo, Halloween, best of Halloween, SNL 2021, Owen Wilson, Kim Kardashian, Rami Malek, Jason Sudeikis, Simu Liu, Mississauga, Square One, apple cider truffles, best of Milk Bar, truffles Milk Bar, season truffles Milk Bar, Niagara Falls, Baby Dog, Tianna Heather, Layla Heather, chihuahua, chihuahua smile, OHNY, Open House New York, Janie's Life Changing Baked Goods, cookies NYC, best cookies NYC, pie crust cookies NYC, pie crust cookies, Upper West Side, Halloween decorations, Halloween streets Upper West Side, Hubie Halloween, Adam Sandler, worst movie, On My Block, meat withdrawal, no meat, vegan, vegan recipes, COVID, Simpsons makeup collection, makeup bag, New York City, Joker steps, Joker stairs, Wicked musical, Aladdin musical, Aladdin, cat cafe NYC, jazz in Harlem, Serendipity 3, Coney Island, Wonder Wheel, best of NYC, apple fritter cake, Thanksgiving, Canadian Thanksgiving, upcoming Broadway shows, Truro, back up your computer, Ruta Astoria, Mexican food Astoria, amazing salsa Astoria, pumpkin recipes, pumpkin desserts, pumpkin scones, pumpkin cookies, maple icing, maple glaze, Rio Wax Studio Astoria, best wax place NYC, pumpkin flotilla NYC, Central Park, pumpkin flotilla Central Park, Broadway ticket lottery, New Amsterdam theatre, soup season, Il Bambino Astoria, cream of spinach soup, UWS decorations, Anne of Green Gables, Bella and Mortimer Goth The Sims, The Sims, The Sims costumes, Anne of Green Gables dog costume


June 11, 2021

May Musings 2021

by Liz Heather in Beauty, Best of NYC, Food, Ideas, Links, Movies, Music, Personal, Products, Recipes, Reviews


Citi Field, May 2021

Citi Field, May 2021

Forgive the lateness of this post! I am excuse-less. Here’s what went down last month!

  • Here are the two lists of the best tweets of the month.

  • I perused Jessica Merchant’s new cookbook and some of the recipes are definite must-makes this summer. Garlic confit, stone fruit halloumi salad, tomato pie, BLT corn salad, scallops with tomato cream sauce, and the list goes on. Sometimes I like to browse the cookbooks in book stores just for inspiration when I’m in a cooking rut.

  • I bought the Dr. Teal’s foaming bath Vapor Bath scent and it’s underwhelming! I mean, it’s good, but nothing like the vapor heaven I was anticipating.

  • I made the ramp butter from Missy Robbin’s (of Lilia fame) recipe and it tasted fine but was nothing like hers. No idea where I went wrong. Maybe I was supposed to use salted butter? Maybe the butter quality wasn’t good enough? Maybe my food processor was inadequate?

Ramps

My sad ramp butter

  • In other ramp news, I ate the ramp, cheddar & poppyseed croissant from Mel The Bakery and it was delicious. Great bakery. Must return.

Ramp, cheddar & poppyseed croissant from Mel The Bakery, NYC

  • So I made the Milk Bar crumbs (without the cake) because I thought that’d be a fun treat to just keep in the fridge. But without the cake and the icing? Suck city. Such a waste of time. Tastes useless on its own.

  • I watched the movie Riding The Bullet (why, I don’t know) and of course it was terrible, what was I thinking. Proves that you don’t have to be talented to make a movie, so there’s really hope for anyone in this world.

  • I reviewed the NARS birthday gift from Sephora.

  • I tried a sample of Chanel’s Ultra-Light Skin Perfecting Sunscreen Makeup Broad Spectrum SPF 15 and it’s luxury in a bottle. I might have to buy it since they discontinued the Amore Pacific tinted moisturizer that I used to love.

  • I made focaccia for the first time! I had some leftover green garlic so I incorporated that into it and it was a raging success.

Before

After

  • I watched the third and final season of Shrill and it was perfect. I hate that it’s over since every season was better than the last, but life must go on. No spoilers, but I loved how it ended. Best character of life = Em.

  • Went to Momofuku Noodle Bar again and finally tried the buns (not pork, but mushroom) and wow. I wish I knew how to cook a mushroom like a restaurant quality chef. It’s a mystery I’ll never crack.

  • New goal: to swim in the sky pool in London.

  • Sometimes there is no greater joy than getting to experience a new potato chip flavour. And the Lays ones this summer… are wonderful.

  • I can’t stop making this chicken caprese pasta salad. There’s something about the idea of a cold pasta salad that sits in the fridge and gets better each day, I just love it. It always reminds me of a staple food that white people would take to a picnic in the 90s, but I don’t know what I’m basing that on. Wasn’t that a white person thing? I remember mentioning the idea of a cold pasta salad to one of my West Indian cousins at a get together and she gasped at the idea, “Why would a pasta ever be served COLD???”

  • I only ever want to read new stories like these.

  • I rewatched Mad Man and this is probably the best scene in the whole series. The line “the moon belongs to everyone” will always make my knees weak.

  • I listened to the Martin Short / Charles Grodin episode of Julie Klausner’s podcast and it only reaffirms how I feel about podcasts. They’re so fucking boring, I’ll never know what people get out of listening to them. Absolutely not for me.

  • That being said, I do love being a guest on them.

  • There’s a new Danny Meyer restaurant opening in the fall, sign me up, obviously.

  • I bought these high waisted shorts, this gorgeously neon orange crop, and these printed shorts: all from Zara because their summer collection is actually good this year.

  • I went to a Mets game and it was wonderful to be back in a stadium. I also got the Mrs. Met Wonder Woman bobblehead I’ve been eyeing for over a year now.

  • I ate a white chocolate apricot scone from Il Bambino in Astoria and it was insanely good. I always forget about scones. You can’t sleep on a scone. I also always forget how much I love apricot. It’s never IN anything, why is that?

  • The teaser for Last Night in Soho makes it look really good.

  • I revisited The Beekman and it continues to be just a solid ass place to take someone from out of town for a drink. It’s so beautifully designed and I’ll never get over what a great job was done in restoring it.

The ceiling at The Beekman, NYC

Look at the stairway details at The Beekman, NYC

  • Okay, I know everyone knows about the cookies at Levain Bakery, but the dark chocolate peanut butter one might CHANGE YOU SPIRITUALLY.

  • I got some great British food gifts from Myers of Keswick in the West Village for my dad, it’s just a great little shop.

  • I finally went to the Dame pop-up! Exquisite fish and chips. I did sneak in my own gravy from Pommes Frites down the street since they don’t offer any, but no one seemed to mind (and by no one I mean that I hid it with a napkin anytime someone walked by). I understand this isn’t behavior I should exhibit, but fish and chips without gravy should be illegal. Anyway, I’m so excited they’re expanding into a full blown restaurant. Must return to see the new menu items.

Look at that fry and TELL me he isn’t screaming out for sip of gravy

Secret gravy tastes better?

  • So I was all excited to go see the new Little Island in the city, but then I realized that this goddam area was the one that I was so against a few years ago because it meant that they’d tear down the Pier 54 remnants! I can’t believe time had made me forget this fact! Those dirty fucks! So I may not visit it now. Debating all my options. Mentally I don’t know that I even need to escape to a new floating island.

  • I bought these black flats for my new part time hostess job (more on this in another post) and they’re so comfortable, it’s shocking.

  • Tried the new(ish) Key Lime Pie Kit-Kats and, what a shock, another winner.

  • I finally reviewed the KKW lip liner set that I mentioned months ago.

  • Of course I listened to Olivia Rodrigo’s new album Sour and the best songs are by far traitor and driver’s license (duh).

  • I took Baby Dog on a mini day trip to Coney Island and it was too fun. We walked along the pier, got my prediction from Grandma, spent three seconds in the sand and then sat by the water. We also went to the Coney Island Brewery and the best things about that place? The music is so perfect and late 90s, there’s a free tap that has still & sparkling water, they have beer flights on the menu to try different kinds (such a great idea), the grilled cheese was NUTS, and the alcoholic pink lemonade was summer in a can.

Smiling at the ocean

Wonder Wheel

Baby Dog at a brewery

Can I install this in my house, PLEASE

Some things I’m looking forward to doing this month: I’d really love to make this garlic jam that sounds incredible, I’m making it my mission to get to Mama’s Too on a Wednesday this month to try one of their legendary Wednesday sandwiches, and I’m so excited that casual street fairs have returned (check below for some upcoming ones).

If you’ve got any interest in reading last month’s roundup, you can see what went down in April over here.

TAGS: May 2021, Liz Heather, May Musings 2021, best tweets May 2021, Jessica Merchant, cookbook, How Sweet Eats, Dr. Teals foaming bath, vapor bath, Missy Robbins, Lilia, ramp, ramps, ramp butter, ramp butter recipe, butter, Mel the Bakery, Mel the Bakery NYC, NYC, best of NYC, bakery NYC, croissants NYC, Milk Bar crumbs, Riding The Bullet, NARS birthday gift, NARS birthday gift Sephora, Sephora, Chanel, Amore Pacific, Chanel sunscreen makeup, makeup, focaccia bread, green garlic, Shrill, Em from Shrill, Fightmaster, Momofuku Noodle Bar, mushrooms, sky pool, sky pool London, swimming pool London, Lays, Lays summer flavors, chicken caprese pasta salad, cold pasta salad, white people food, picnics, picnic food, Mad Men, The Best Things In Life Are Free, Martin Short, Charles Grodin, Julie Klausner, podcast, podcasts, Nathan Macintosh, Danny Meyer, new Danny Meyer restaurant 2021, Zara summer collection, Mets, Citi Field, Mrs. Met, Mrs. Met bobblehead, Wonder Woman, Mrs. Met Wonder Woman bobblehead, while chocolate apricot scone, Il Bambino Astoria, Last Night in Soho trailer, movies, movie, The Beekman, beautiful hotel NYC, Levain Bakery, dark chocolate peanut butter cookie NYC, Myers of Keswick NYC, British food store NYC, Dame, Dame NYC, West Village, fish and chips NY, fish and chips NYC, gravy, fries, Pommes Frites, Little Island, Pier 54, Pier 55, black flats, Key Lime Pie Kit-Kats, chocolate, Olivia Rodrigo, Sour, traitor song, drivers license song, Coney Island, Grandma's Predictions, Baby Dog, Baby Dog Macintosh, Coney Island Brewery, grilled cheese NYC, Wonder Wheel NYC, Brooklyn, Queens, monthly post, monthly roundup


August 2, 2019

July Jiffs 2019

by Liz Heather in Beauty, Best of NYC, Food, Links, Movies, Music, Personal, Products, Recipes, Reviews, Television


oceansimpsons.gif
oceansimpsons.gif

So technically the end of August is the appropriate time to start any and all Halloween/autumn talk (I think I made up that rule, but it feels right), so I’ll respect that and wait. Just know that I’m inwardly filling up with joy in anticipation of the best time of the year. Here’s what went down this month!

  • I made a list of some of my favourite summer vacation-y movies that I like to watch to pass the ungodly slow summer hours.

  • I read and reviewed the book Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed (the woman who wrote Wild).

  • We had a small party for July 4th and it was the best. Here’s what I made and loved: Panzanella Salad with Fresh Mozzarella (I used the How Sweet Eats recipe, but added mozzarella and omitted the corn and avocado - I also made the croutons the Ree Drummond way, because that’s the tastiest way), Spinach Bacon & Artichoke Stuffed Mushrooms (because they’re so delicious I want to scream), I used bell peppers as the bowls for holding the ranch for the vegetables, Slow Cooker Ribs, Eggplant Lasagna (I can’t remember the recipe I used, but it was pretty basic), Peanut Butter & Nutella Cheesecake Bars (this was the second time I’ve made these and it’s a perfect dessert to make a night or two before so that it can really set up), Blueberry Lemon Bread, and a charcuterie board (which is like assembling food art & I love it).

  • My favourite fruit/vegetable season is the end of summer mainly because of the fresh tomatoes and corn, so I can’t wait to try some of these corn dishes available in NYC right now. Although I don’t know how any of them are going to compete with the corn gnocchi at Park Avenue Summer. (I just looked and there’s also a sweet corn agnolotti with black summer truffles on the menu now too, so things just got interesting.)

  • Jenn sent me a link to this lovely poem Perhaps the World Ends Here by Joy Harjo that I just love.

  • I watched the AOC documentary Knock Down The House on Netflix and it’s so, so good. Cried at the ending.

  • I went on Nathan’s podcast to talk about dogs, cheating and movies.

  • I went for lunch at the cafe at Lilia in Brooklyn and it was ONLY AVERAGE. So that was disappointing. Maybe I ordered badly? I got the prosciutto, parmigiano butter, balsamic mustard sandwich - and even though it looks great (love whole grain mustard), it was really just too bready and not very flavourful.

Prosciutto, parmigiano butter, balsamic mustard sandwich at Lilia Cafe, Brooklyn

  • I saw Midsommar (by the same guy who did Hereditary last year) and I really liked it. Some parts are just unnecessarily graphic (and the slow motion shots of this stuff are insane to watch), but the plot was great. Love an original movie.

  • Watched the entirety of Champions on Netflix and it really bums me out that it got cancelled, it was a really fun show.

  • Made this chocolate chunk coconut banana bread and it was goooooood.

  • I visited the new TWA Hotel at JFK and wrote about it over here.

  • So excited to hear that there will be three more seasons of Big Mouth!

  • I also rewatched Dante’s Peak (still a great movie) and Twister (again, it holds up). I think I was in a natural disaster kinda mood that week.

  • Do you remember experiencing or hearing about the ride Kongfrontation at Universal Studios in Florida? I’ve only ever heard of it, but it seems like it was probably the best ride that ever existed at that park. I hate how most rides these days are just 3D screens with no real interaction or animatronics, it’s bullshit.

  • Fucking obsessed with this strawberry lemonade kombucha that’s apparently only available at Trader Joe’s. I thought their gingerade was the best flavour, but now I have to reassess everything. (Also tried the “watermelon wonder” but it’s pure trash.)

  • Some songs that I can’t stop listening to: You Need To Calm Down by Taylor Swift, Blow Your Mind by Dua Lipa, Everybody by Elliphant feat. Azealia Banks, Boys by Lizzo, Let Me Go by Hailee Steinfeld & Alesso feat. Florida Georgia Line & watt, Doin’ Time by Lana Del Ray, We Were Young by Petit Biscuit feat. JP Cooper, Calma (Remix) by Pedro Capo & Farruko

  • Apparently I can’t get enough of Bill Hader.

  • I refuse to shut up about how great the (square bottle) nail polishes are at Urban Outfitters. They’ve been consistently great for years. I’ve been wearing their neon pink Hot Tub off and on for at least five years, and they keep putting out wicked new colours. There’s almost always a 3 for $10 deal and recently I got Coffee Creamer, Sun Bunny & Optic White and they’re BEAUTIFUL.

  • It’s currently Restaurant Week again (it’s on until August 16th), so of course I went back to The Dutch for their beautiful wagyu steak tartare. I also had the corn cappelletti with chanterelle mushrooms and marjoram that was heavenly.

Wagyu steak tartare, The Dutch, NYC

Corn cappelletti, The Dutch, NYC

  • I saw The Farewell and it’s everything I wanted it to be and more! Definitely go see it. It also reminded me of this beautiful song that I had to sing for a competition once years ago, Caro Mio Ben.

  • There’s a deal with ClassPass where you can use the service for free for two weeks, so I tried it and it’s not that great. It’s just too expensive to justify having it when I already have a monthly gym membership somewhere else. I did try an aqua cycling class through Aqua Studio during the free trial and it was… only okay. I mean, it’s fun and great to be in the salt water, but it wasn’t all that challenging as a workout.

  • I wasn’t planning on buying it, but I tried it, loved it, so had to buy it: Glossier’s Brow Flick. I’m still learning how to use it properly, but so far I’m really into it. It inspired this eyebrow products video that I posted last week.

  • I saw Toy Story 4 and I really hope this is the final one they make because the ending was so good. That’s all I’ll say. Quality series of movies, right here.

  • Some friends of mine recently opened up a small, late night food place called Foodstruck in Astoria and the food is really good. They’ve just opened, so they’re still figuring out their hours but I think they’re catering to the late night crowd, especially servers/bartenders who get off work late. Check out some of the food specials from this past week.

Burger with gruyere, onion marmalade, sun dried tomatoes & a rosemary garlic butter on a potato bun

Fried boneless chicken thighs with a garlic soy tamarind glaze

Fried chicken sandwich with a spicy mayo, cheese sauce & pickles on a potato bun

  • My too-kind friend Irene got us a housewarming gift of a Diptyque candle (in eucalyptus) and somehow it’s still going after three months of daily use, which is incredible. Do not look up how expensive this candle is.

  • I watched To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before on Netflix and really liked it! Especially the hot tub scene. But let’s not get into it. I double-checked to make sure they’re both over 21 and they are, so all’s good.

  • Made this pappardelle pasta with mushroom ragu when Nathan was out of town (I like to get my mushroom recipes in when he’s gone) and it’s definitely going on my favourite-dinner-recipes list.

  • I ate at Misi in Brooklyn because I’ve wanted to go for ages and the pasta was solid as hell, I’d definitely go back. We had the charred peppers, marjoram, and whipped ricotta crostini, the corzetti with marinated sungold (peeled) tomatoes, garlic, pecorino & summer herbs (have you ever eaten a PEELED tomato? It almost feels wrong. The good kind of wrong), the strangozzi with pork sugo, nutmeg and parmigiana and for dessert we had the strawberries and cream gelato (it was a special that night) and the espresso gelato. Everything was so crazy good. The service was fantastic and the space is huge. Is it better than Lilia or L'Artusi (pasta-wise)? Ugh, that's such a hard question. It's really good. I'll have to revisit to get more intel to make a final decision on that.

  • I went to Coney Island with Irene and it was great, as it always should be.

Kill me, so cute

Oh yeah!

  • I visited the Profundo Day Club (mainly to get my ass in a pool) earlier this month, and I highly doubt that I’ll return. Mostly because even though the pool was nice (small, but nice) and refreshing, the blaring house music in the middle of the day was a little excessive. There’s also a disco ball above the pool itself. And a unicorn floatie that drifts around the water. And waitresses who shoot sparklers off when someone buys a bottle of liquor. It’s… not for me, let’s say. And the cheapest pass was $70 (tax included), which is waaaay too expensive for Queens. Let’s be real.

  • There’s a new season of Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee and the Martin Short episode is just lovely. It almost killed me when he was talking about when he bought his house and said, “We bought it in 1986” even though his wife passed away years ago. Am I being ridiculous in thinking that him using the word “we” is so sad and sweet and nice? Or maybe that’s a normal thing to say and I’d melt at anything to come out of his mouth. And while it was a good episode, I got so fucking sick of all the filler shots of coffee being brewed, coffee being poured into a cup, beans being tossed in a can, flowers sitting in vases - for fuck sake JUST TALK TO MARTIN SHORT AND SHOW ME THAT. Annoying as hell.

  • Nathan and I started watching season three of Stranger Things and… it’s not good? We saw all of the first season, which was pretty good. Attempted season two and never finished it because it became boring. And last week, we watched the first couple episodes of season three and I think we’ve silently agreed on just stopping it altogether. And look, I’m happy other people like it, but it’s just not for me. Demogorgons are too close to being dragons, maybe that’s why I can’t care about them?

  • I like to go to at least one baseball game each season, so I went to a Mets game last weekend and got this beauty that was the giveaway (below) since it was the 50th anniversary of the moon landing.

Mr. Met Moon Landing Bobble Head

  • I mean, there was even a promo video for it. How amazing is that?

My bobble head day is truly out of this world! 👨‍🚀🚀

Thanks @CradleAviation for letting me hangout!

Prepare for takeoff: https://t.co/OIPsrmubxx pic.twitter.com/BAKyxy54o1

— Mr. Met (@MrMet) July 10, 2019
  • Honestly, this bobblehead makes me so happy for some reason. I love going to Citi Field especially ‘cause the food is always so good. We got the filet mignon steak sandwich from the aptly named Pat LaFrieda’s Original Filet Mignon Steak Sandwich, incredible fries from Box Frites, souvenir cups & drinks from Effen Vodka Bar, mozzarella sticks from Big Mozz, and chips & queso with ginger lime margaritas from Cantina.

Pat LaFrieda’s filet mignon steak sandwich, Citi Field

Fries with parmesan ranch and cheese sauce from Box Frites, Citi Field

  • Two new things that I’m going to start doing:

    • 1. Buying less things off of Amazon. If there’s an alternative, independently run company that I can find the item at (and if the price isn’t wildly more expensive) then I’ll shop there instead. Every new thing I hear about Amazon makes me shudder, and I hate that it’s become my default place for me to buy anything.

    • 2. If a store/restaurant is cashless (ie. credit cards only), then I’ll refuse to shop there. It’s insane that this isn’t illegal everywhere yet. I’m so sick of it and cash should be accepted everywhere, it’s nuts that I even need to say that. (I was excited to have lunch at Ole & Steen in Union Square for lunch the other day, but they’re “cashfree” so fuck them!)

Some things that I’m looking forward to doing this month: I’ve already sent in my email requesting tickets for Saturday Night Live (you can only request tickets during the entire month of August), I can’t wait to see Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark with Layla, there’s a tomato gelato that I want to try that sounds either awful or life-affirming, going on our anniversary trip at the end of the month, excited for a Canyon Creek caesar salad with Harmeet, planning on going to the CNE with my mom (haven’t done this in years), going to two weddings (!!) and I love weddings, being in a pool with Marla and a bunch of our kids, and taking advantage of a few more Restaurant Week specials. Excited for the last month of trash weather!

If you’re some kind of monster who loves reading these monthly roundups, you can find last month’s over here.

TAGS: July Jiffs 2019, Tiny Beautiful Things, Cheryl Strayed, Wild, July 4th food, panzanella salad, How Sweet Eats, Ree Drummond croutons, spinach bacon artichoke stuffed mushrooms, bell peppers, ranch, slow cooker ribs, eggplant lasagna, peanut butter nutella cheesecake bars, blueberry lemon bread, Liz Heather, summer, monthly roundup, end of month post, charcuterie board, fresh corn, NYC, best of NYC, Restaurant Week NYC, Park Avenue Summer, corn gnocchi, summer truffles, sweet corn agnolotti, Perhaps the World Ends Here poem, Joy Harjo, AOC, Knock Down The House, documentary, best of Netflix, Netflix, Positive Anger, Nathan Macintosh, podcast, Lilia cafe, Brooklyn, Queens, Midsommar, Hereditary, Champions, chocolate chunk coconut banana bread, TWA Hotel JFK, Big Mouth, Dante's Peak, Twister, Kongfrontation ride, Universal Orlando, strawberry lemonade, You Need To Calm Down, Taylor Swift, Blow Your Mind, Dua Lipa, Everybody, Elliphant, Azealia Banks, Boys, Lizzo, songs, summer song, music, summer music, Let Me Go, Hailee Steinfeld, Alesso, Florida Georgia Line, watt, Doin' Time, Lana Del Ray, We Were Young, Petit Biscuit, JP Cooper, Calma Remix, Pedro Capo, Farruko, Bill Hader, SNL, nail polish, Urban Outfitters, The Dutch, steak tartare, The Farewell, Caro Mio Ben, ClassPass, Aqua Studio, aqua cycling, Glossier, brow flick, eyebrow products, Toy Story 4, Foodstruck Astoria, late night food NYC, burger, fried chicken sandwich, Irene Morales, Diptyque candle, To All The Boys I've Loved Before, pappardelle pasta, mushroom ragu, Misi, peeled tomato, pasta NYC, best pasta NYC, Coney Island, Wonder Wheel, pool Queens, Profundo Day Club, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, Martin Short, coffee, Stranger Things, Mets, baseball, Citi Field food, Mr. Met, Mr. Met bobblehead moon landing, moon landing, Pat LaFrieda, filet mignon steak sandwich, Box Frites, best fries Citi Field, Effen Vodka Bar, Big Mozz, Cantina Citi Field, Amazon, shopping online, cashless, credit cards only


August 29, 2014

Grandma's Predictions Booth at Coney Island

by Liz Heather in Best of NYC, Personal


The Grandma!

The Grandma!

The Grandma!

The Grandma!

Every time I go to Coney Island, I make sure to visit this robot grandma. For twenty-five cents, she'll give you a card that gives you some hints about your future. I've been going to see her for years and I highly suggest you visit her the next time you're there since she can be eerily accurate. (She even has a Twitter account, which seems weird.)

Harmeet and I, living it up

She's located just beside The Wonder Wheel, so just walk down this hill (below) to find her.

Harmeet, coning it up

It was at this booth that I received this card (below), five years and a month ago, and I still carry it around in my wallet.

Front

Back

Other than it being kind of a harsh (but true) card, I got this card two weeks before I started talking to Nathan. And whether you choose to believe me or not (I will understand if you can't, but I swear to God it's true), I rediscovered this card (months later) wrapped in a Nathan's (the hot dog place in Coney Island) napkin from the day that I went.

I'm not saying that this grandma knows everything, but she knows a shit ton more than you. Definitely go see her if you can.

Also, these past five years have been some of the best times I've ever shared with another person and I'm thankful as hell to have you in my life, Nathan. Happy Fifth Anniversary, b.

TAGS: Coney Island, Grandma's Predictions, best of NYC, Nathan Macintosh, Liz Heather, Nathan's Hot Dogs, Harmeet Litt